Greatest games that didn't work

[LOL]

there are so many games and franchises i can think of that had awesome plots, concepts or ideas but failed to realise their potential, or just suffered from stuff like bad controls or a lack of planning. are there any games you would like to see remade or improved and what would you change about them.

[LOL]

a few of mine, for example:

martian gothic: unification. great atmosphere and gameplay concept but i'm baffled as to how it ever got past the testing stage, the controls are just beyond atrocious. it is literally impossible to avoid some enemies because you can't even run around them. let alone when you have to take care of three protagonists in different locations all in real-time. unforgivable

shadow of the colossus. a superb, visionary game hampered by seriously unhelpful camera angles and a lack of depth. this is totally arguable and i appreciate the game as it is, but it would have been so much more engaging if they just threw a few puzzles and some item collection into the mix. dare i say the boss strategies could have been a bit more varied too? stabbing their brains out lost its appeal pretty quickly for me, whats wrong with a good old wrecking ball or a Jaws' propane sandwich?

Oni- cool Ghost in the Shell inspired story with a solid plot, but the controls are so illogical and annoying (all 5 pre-set modes). i love clinical, futuristic enviroments but i'm guessing the "architects" hired to design the levels here were unemployed, cause every damn level is so vacuous and dull. give it some soul and a good battle system and you've got a great action game. similar things could be said for PN03, but whereas that had reasonably workable gameplay and a sleek sci-fi aesthetic, the whole thing was just so damn repetitive and the levels didn't for one moment suggest an actually habitable space colony, as they were supposed to be. instead they were just vast, totally empty techno-chambers and sterile corridors with no visible purpose. don't get me started on the lazy plotting and the "twist" at the end. pff

Primal Rage- perhaps closest to my heart, THIS WAS A FUCKING AWESOME idea for a game and i still love the way it looks and sounds- the harryhausen-esque dino animations still look really unique. the whole thing had such character and potential. but the game lacked good controls and ai (as most 2d fighters did imo) and there really wasn't much depth here. more dinosaurs to choose from, more locations and gameplay modes, more plot development with alternate endings, better controls and (crucially) more easily-performed finishing moves would make this an absolute classic.

more where this all came from, but i'd like to hear your ideas.

[LOL]

40+ views and not one of you has anything to contribute. give me a break.

[fishsandwich]

it's a topic that requires a bit of thought and i for one am tired of thinking after the busy week. plus i'm a bit hung over (as are many of you)

I think shining Force is a good series that never developed past its 16-bit roots. SF3 on the Saturn is hard to look at nowadays and the PS2 games totally dropped most of the strategy in favor of banal action and overused special effects. I guess that's not a really good example.

Seamen was a great concept that could have gone alot further than it did.

[Kitsune Sniper]

... You realize posting picks up later in the day, right?

[LOL]

just keeping you on your toes.

[tom]

The Bouncer, big announcement for PS2, launch title and all that, and......rubbish.

Rise of the Robots....less said about that the better, see Retro Gamer issue 43

CDi Zelda and Link games, nice try, quite playable, but they just couldn't pull it off

[LOL]

ah, rise of the robots...thats definitely another one i was going to mention. i really liked the idea of the game and the "enemy approaching" cutscenes used to scare me when i was little...i think Rise had definite potential and some interesting robot designs but man what a flop that turned out to be. dreadful gameplay.

the CDi Zeldas were hilarious, if little else: "Oh boy! An adventure! I'll go grab my stuff!!1" / "I'm so hungry I could eat an Octorok!!" FAIL.

[Flack]

just keeping you on your toes.

You are going to be out on your toes the next time you post and bump it twice within an hour and a half.

[LOL]

oh my, no bumping within an hour and a half! will you look at that, everyone. gosh.

[Nukie]

The game that never realized it's full potential to me was post whore united.

[smork]

oh my, no bumping within an hour and a half! will you look at that, everyone. gosh.

You're not really convincing people to spend time thinking about what to post in your thread, you know.

[Nebagram]

Sonic Adventure and everything that came after it. '3D Sonic? Yay!' 'Hmm, the camera is kinda wonky. 'Very wonky.' 'And the controls are a bit iffy.' 'And when can I actually play as Sonic?' 'Who the hell is Shadow?' etc. etc.

[Dreadstar]

First thing that leaps to mind for me is American Gladiators on the Genesis. I loved the show but I'm glad I only rented that unplayable hunk of plastic. Maybe now that they've updated the show someone else will take a crack at making a game. *snicker*

[Sniderman]

oh my, no bumping within an hour and a half! will you look at that, everyone. gosh.

When one of the forum moderators....as well as an administrator...with 11,000+ posts to his credit...and a Join Date of 2003....tells YOU.....with a join date of 2 weeks ago....and 35 posts to his name....to cut it out, I'd certainly STFU, cut the attitude, and listen hard.

Or leap back in with more chest-beating and flashing of your huge brass balls. Either way, it'll be quieter around here soon enough.

[PingvinBlueJeans]

there are so many games and franchises i can think of that had awesome plots, concepts or ideas but failed to realise their potential, or just suffered from stuff like bad controls or a lack of planning.

Yup.
http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11513

[calgon]

Killer 7
Wind Waker (sorry)

[ssjlance]

Seriously, first rule of digitpress is don't mess with Flack. He WILL ban you.

And as far as games go that weren't executed incredibly well, I'd have to say Castlevania 2. Brilliant idea for the game, but god was it done badly. The first one where they tried to mix in some adventure/RPG elements, so I cut it some slack. Still, pretty downright bad game.

[Nirvana]

Killer 7
Wind Waker (sorry)

You know, I heard Killer 7 was actually quite rad. I gotta try it out for myself.

[LOL]

When one of the forum moderators....as well as an administrator...with 11,000+ posts to his credit...and a Join Date of 2003....tells YOU.....with a join date of 2 weeks ago....and 35 posts to his name....to cut it out, I'd certainly STFU, cut the attitude, and listen hard.

Or leap back in with more chest-beating and flashing of your huge brass balls. Either way, it'll be quieter around here soon enough.

ha, this is great. i make an interesting, accessible thread with alot of discussion potential when the board is stone dead and all you hapless whiners can do is complain or smugly offer links to a similar thread from further back than anyone cares to remember. don't tell ME to shut up for wanting to have a worthwhile discussion about games when you've apparently got nothing better to do than stroke your egos and make patronizing, shitty remarks. thanks in advance.

and thanks to anyone who's actually participating here.